


One Step At A Time

by iwillgodownwithbuddie (rebeldawgspirategirl)



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23171797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebeldawgspirategirl/pseuds/iwillgodownwithbuddie
Summary: T.K. goes to talk to Carlos before heading back to station to talk to the team.Missing moments from the finale.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 4
Kudos: 258





	One Step At A Time

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a teacher and our school is closed for at least a week (possibly two and then it's spring break). I'm looking at anywhere from 7 to 21 days at home practicing social distancing. Feel free to head over to my Tumblr page and send me some prompts. My username over there is iwillgodownwithbuddie.

T.K. paced outside Carlos' door as he waited nervously for the other man to open the door. 

"Can we talk?" T.K. asked anxiously as soon as the door was open.

Carlos frowned, but stepped aside, letting T.K. in. "Are you okay?" he asked, pointing to T.K.'s injured shoulder.

"Just a couple of extra stitches. Nothing major."

They sat on the sofa facing each other. T.K. took a deep breath as he willed his hands to stop shaking. Carlos reached out a hand and cautiously placed his steady one on top of T.K.'s shaky ones.

"Whatever it is you need to say, it's okay," Carlos whispered, bracing himself for T.K. to tell him he was moving out of Austin or that he didn't want Carlos around.

T.K. drew in a slow, deep breath. "Remember the night you arrested me? I told you I relapsed on substances."

"I remember," Carlos answered, nodding.

"That wasn't all. I'm an opioid addict, and just before we moved down here, I not only relapsed, but I overdosed."

"T.K." Carlos whispered. 

"I didn't show up to work, so Dad went looking for me. I wasn't answering my door, so he called in the team. They forced their way into my apartment and Dad found me unconscious. I had to be resuscitated by my own team. When I was discharged from the hospital, Dad forced me down here to start over."

Carlos couldn't keep himself from placing his fingers through T.K.'s as the other man spoke. "Damn, T.K."

"All that happened because my boyfriend admitted to cheating on me the night I was planning on proposing. Since we moved down here, nothing has felt like it was my choice. Austin FD wasn't my choice. Austin wasn't my choice. My therapist wasn't my choice. Going to meetings wasn't my choice. I've felt out of place just about everywhere I've been since I moved down here to Austin."

"I'm sensing a but in here somewhere."

"But you have always made me feel like I belonged here. Since that night at the car wreck with the baby in the tree, you have tried to welcome me to Austin with open arms. You have tried to let this," T.K. pointed between himself and Carlos, "be my choice. And I've been nothing but a narcissistic jerk to you. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," Carlos said, a hopeful smile spreading across his face.

"I choose this," T.K. whispered. "I choose us."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure that I want to try this with you. I have to warn you, I'm a mess. I'm an addict with abandonment issues."

"I'm not perfect either. Just wait and see."

T.K. smiled. "I can't wait."

"So what now?"

"Want to give me a ride over to the station? I want to tell the team about me and that I want to stay. Then maybe we can go out somewhere? Something simple, but an actual date."

Carlos stood and reached for his keys. He held out a hand to his new boyfriend. "Let's go. I know just the place."

T.K. accepted the outstretched hand and stood. Carlos pulled him in and embraced the smaller man as tight as he could while minding the stitches. They stood there for a moment, wrapped up around each other in silence. 

"Thank you for trusting me," Carlos whispered as he pulled away from the hug.

They walked outside and got into Carlos' Camero. Hands linked over the center console, Carlos made the short trip over to the 126. He offered to go inside and wait with T.K. there, but T.K. assured him this was something he needed to do alone. That didn't keep Carlos from watching from down the block as the trucks pulled into the station. He couldn't see much, but he could tell when the team all left, presumably to shower since it was the end of a shift. As soon as Paul stepped away, Carlos was out of his car and walking towards the station.

He stood in the doorway and waited as T.K. said goodbye to his father, chuckling lightly as the older Strand asked, "How many life decisions did you make today?"

Carlos' eyes went up in a silent question as T.K. approached him. He watched as all of the tension left T.K.'s body and smiled. He pressed a quick kiss to the other man's neck and wrapped his arms tightly around him, once again, mindful of the stitches. 

"You ready to go?" Carlos asked.

"Yes," T.K. answered, lacing his fingers together with Carlos' and walking back in the direction of the car. "Where are we going?"

"There's this place just outside of town that has the best tamales aside from my grandmother's recipe."

"That sounds amazing."

They were just finishing paying the bill when the sun began to set and the sky lit up in beautiful colors, a much more pleasant effect caused by the solar storm.

"Want to go stargazing?" Carlos asked, standing up from the table.

T.K. admired the sky as he stood. "Absolutely," he answered.

They found themselves in the middle of an empty field, laying on the hood of Carlos' car, hands linked and resting on T.K.'s lap.

"You know, it's hard to really go stargazing in Manhattan," T.K. says quietly. "There are too many lights. It's beautiful, but in a manmade way. This definitely tops it."

"It is pretty incredible," Carlos agrees.

"I'm scared," T.K. admitted, voice barely over a whisper. 

Carlos propped himself up on one arm to face T.K. "Of what?"

"Of falling too hard and too fast only to have my heart stomped on again."

"I'm not going to do that," Carlos assured him. "I want this. I want to work for this. I promise you I’m falling just as hard and just as fast. Like I said, I had some pretty strong feelings seeing you there in that hospital bed."

T.K. smiled teasingly. "What kind of strong feelings?"

Carlos rolled back onto his back and returned to gazing at the sky. "Like I could love you. It's a little crazy since you haven't been here that long and we've only officially been a thing for a few hours, but when you were laying in that hospital bed and I didn't know if you were going to wake up, I was scared that I wasn't going to ever be able to tell you."

T.K. reached over once again and took Carlos' hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze as he did so. "Dad said you were at the hospital every day."

"I was."

"Thank you. And for what it's worth, I feel the same way."

Carlos smiled at his boyfriend laying next to him. "One step at a time, though."

T.K. chuckled. "One step at a time."

**Author's Note:**

> Reblog on Tumblr: https://iwillgodownwithbuddie.tumblr.com/post/612754425814073344/one-step-at-a-time


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